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tv   Capitol Hill Hearings  CSPAN  January 3, 2013 1:00am-6:00am EST

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us, not all by the way, i want to point that mr. grimm, mr. king, and others were very helpful. the leadership told us they were with us and were supportive, but i guess those were only words. thanks to their action, there is no federal assistance to help hard-working people rebuild and restart their lives. i'm not a cynic, but i do wonder what if we told republicans that a few millionaires and billionaires, lives were destroyed by the storm and whether they want to help all of the families hurting because of sandy? what if republicans were to provide aid to families in need and that in turn they would get a tax break? would these incentives have changed their minds? would it have prompted action?
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it appears that their only priority is to help those who have the most. they brought the house to a new low last night. the banner of this beaker's in god we trust -- the speaker's chair says, in god we trust. we cannot serve false promises are false guarantees. many of you know that -- my cousin, john, was killed in 9/11. i would say dozens that congress needs to know. they were destroyed by hurricane sandy. it did not stop my family and his neighbors to go out and sit
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through the feets of sand to find that memorial. it was that precious to them. they did not wait for the federal government to come to hold them by their boot straps. they are humble and proud people that have been affected by this. he will recover. -- they will recover. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i think it is important to set the record straight. last night many of us came to the floor and rightly said that the conduct of the republican leadership was disgraceful, indefensible, and is immoral. let me lay out the facts to how we reach the situation. we're not in the position of name-calling. this goes far beyond any of that. the fact is, 10 days after
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katrina, $60 million was appropriated. it has been nine weeks and nothing has been appropriated at all by this congress to the people of new york, new jersey, connecticut, and long island, which i represent. over that last five or seven weeks, we did everything that the republican leadership asked us to do. governor cuomo came down. he met with the speaker. governor christie came down and met with the speaker. mayor bloomberg came down and met with the majority leader. we were asked to submit documentation. all of them submitted documentation. when we asked if there was anything else required, they said no. when the bill came from the senate, we were told there were sport in the bill. that was taken out of the -- there was pork in the bill. that was taken out of the bill.
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let me say at this time, my dealings with them, i know that he was fighting hard to get the bill on the calendar. i know it was the speaker has said the bill was being pulled. i consider myself a friend of john boehner. it pains me to say this, but the fact is that the dismissive attitude that was shown last night i would new york, new jersey, and connecticut typifies a strain in the republican party. i know this is not the place to discuss politics, but all it takes has seeped into a decision that was made. i cannot imagine that type of indifference and disregard, that cavalier attitude is shown in any other part of the country. we are talking about real life and death situation here.
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they tell us that the item that means life and death is taken off the calendar and is gone for the session and will be taken up in january? let's be real. we will have the state of the union and committees have not been organized it. can anyone believe that they would not -- that the appropriations committee would suddenly find religion when we know what their attitude is? money is going to their states is so honorable? i would say that these people have no problem finding new york .hen it comes to money i'm standing on the house for tonight to say that we have a moral obligation as americans. i spoke to governor christie
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and governor cuomo. contactbeen in constant with mayor bloomberg. i have to go home this weekend and see the hundreds of thousands of people who are out of their homes and do not have shelter or food and are living with relatives and friends and living in trailers. this is not the united states of america. they should not eat the republican party a republican leadership. they should not be the republican party or republican leadership. they have an obligation that they have to do, and that is to provide aid and relief that we need. if there is one penny they have a problem with, let us know. do not walk out and not tell us. i yield back my time. [applause] >> the gentleman yield back.
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i recognize the next gentleman for two and a half minutes. >> i think my colleague for his remarks. i appreciate that he said this is not a democratic or republican issue. national disasters and responding to them are what bring us together to try to help people. the speaker should not use this opportunity to tear us apart. i was here last night when we heard that the speaker would bold this bill. what the masses said was -- we can do this in january. -- what the message said was -- we can do this in january. we cannot wait. my district was devastated by this. come see new jersey. jive through a town that has less than 2000 people. -- drive through this town that has less than 2000 people. most of the people have not been able to return.
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go to union beach, new jersey. everything is exposed. we still have people who do not have a place to stay and are looking for apartments and staying in motels. we need to rebuild now. we need to act now. we cannot wait for the next congress or another couple of weeks or another couple of months. what i do not understand, mr. speaker, is how this has become a political issue? we are here today. we can vote on this. the boats are here. we should have -- the votes are here. they are worried that they have another spending bill. this is politicizing the situation that should not be political. it is another example of what i
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call the do-nothing congress. this congress has done very little. a test passed fewer bills in anyone's summaries. es.memroiori why not do something positive on a bipartisan basis, mr. speaker? bring this up. let us have a debate. we are still here. do not let this congress die on a negative note. let it build on a positive note so when we are sworn in on thursday we can show that we can work on a bike artisan basis. -- on a bipartisan basis. >> mr. speaker, we are here this morning for the fellow citizens who were not able to put up a christmas tree are light up a menorah or celebrate their holiday at home this year because they do not have a home. i'm here for the boardwalk merchants who will not start up
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their businesses this memorial day along the boardwalk because there is no business and there is no boardwalk. we are here to cuss a lot of people's lives are devastated -- we are here to discuss the people of the lives who are devastated. it is important to know what we are and are not asking for. we are not asking that every member of the chamber askevote s in favor of a bill the senate has passed. we are simply asking that every member of this chamber have the opportunity to vote on that bill. president kennedy said that governing is choosing. we are prepared to choose an investment in the recovery of our neighbors in our country. we respect those who make a different choice, but we cannot abide by those who say they would make the choice of doing nothing at all. letting the clock run out on
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this congress would mean that we would have to start all over again, all over again, while the people that i talk to about for whom we are here this morning, they need to start over again. they need to get back to their homes, and businesses, and their lives. if we delay, we delay that possibility for them. every member has a right to exercise his or her conscience on a piece of legislation. no member has the right -- we should meet today and vote today. we should move forward today. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to join the colleagues on the other side. i
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come from a district in new york i was not impacted by hurricane sandy, that i come to the floor today to express my frustration, my disappointment in the decision that was made to not bring up hurricane sandy supplemental aid for the people of new york, new jersey, and connecticut. fellow citizens of america that have suffered devastating impacts. sister speaker, i understand -- mr. speaker, i understand the dynamics of what this bill is about. i understand the senate has put forward a bill that many of my side of the outcome expressed concern about, the pork activity with fisheries and smithsonian funding and things like that that do not have much to do with hurricane sandy. but that is a separate issue that could have been addressed and should be addressed by this body in cleaning up that bill
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and getting the aid, getting the resources to the people that are suffering today, mr. speaker. that was the intended plan. we were going to let the will of the house speak, clean up the bill the senate had produced, but most importantly have done what is right for our fellow citizens. there is not a that are purpose of a federal government than to stand with our citizens when they are suffering the most, especially when they are suffering from a natural disaster such as that of hurricane sandy. i ask and i joined my colleagues on the other side of the aisle again for our leadership to change the decision that was made to let
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the clock run out on this congress and deal with this issue tomorrow. we do not have the luxury of waiting for tomorrow. these people are suffering today. i have talked to my colleagues of the districts that were impacted by this devastating storm. i have heard the horror stories. i have heard the stories of suffering of the millions of people that were impacted in new jersey and new york outside of my district. i think it is right and just and proper for us to hear the stories of those individuals and make sure that we stand with them and take this bill up now rather than kick it to the next congress. god knows when we will address it in that congressional session. i joined my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do what is right, mr. speaker.
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bring this bill to the floor and get on with the business of attending to our fellow citizens as americans. i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yield back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to wish you the best. i'm not glad that you are leaving. you are a gentleman. look, i do not inc. this is the time for a debate. as we say in jersey, it is time to calmly and coolly take the gloves off. that is the time. there is precedent here. i would suggest to the governors to bring us to court. bring us to court.
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not only did we pass the money for katrina in a short amount of time, part of it was by voice vote. can you imagine? part of it was by voice vote. only a few days after that disaster. mr. cantor voted for katrina aid. mr. boehner did. mr. ryan and mr. mccarthy did, as did nearly every member of congress from the new jersey and new york regents. new jersey and the other states that were hit by sandy are some of the biggest donor states, that is they send a lot of taxes to the federal government. now we need our colleagues to step up to the plate. as everyone knows, sandy caused
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significant damage. in north jersey, my district, first responders had to evacuate entire towns when the river rose. the police department will soon be housing trailers. let them come to new jersey. let them come to connecticut. let them come to long island and staten island and pennsylvania and maryland. let them come and see. there was a house that was decimated by the high water. look, we are unfortunately dealing with a schizophrenic leadership on the other side. let's call it for what it is and not mince words. stay in local finances.
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we have been working with members of the house ways and means committee to draft a legislation model of tax relief. mr. speaker, good luck to you and god bless your family and god bless all of you for coming here this morning. our work is still ahead of us. op debating.o star >> at harvard professor called the constitution a contract of citizenship. government will help citizens to protect their families from forces beyond their control. in america, he writes they have
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a right to resources when they simply cannot help themselves. when disaster strikes, they test whether the contract is respected in the citizens hour of need. when the levee broke the contract of american citizenship failed. mr. speaker, the levee broke. they broke in connecticut, new york, and in new jersey. government is about helping families recover and rebuild from major disasters like hurricane sandy. in a shocking display of neglect, the house majority decided not to allow a vote on disaster aid funds so desperately needed to recover and repair from the storm.
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hurricane sandy was one of the most severe storms that hit connecticut in our state district and all across our region. family houses were destroyed and lives were upended. whether it has been a fire in the west, a tornado in the midwest, a hurricane in the gulf coast, or a storm in the north east, we did not say no. it was a resounding yes to help because it is our central responsibility of this institution to act on behalf of the american people. yet, here we are two months since sandy destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and took hundreds of lives across this nation. the house majority said no on a boat for disaster assistance to help millions of people get back on their feet again. the republican leadership has
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broken that contract of citizenship. they have said to my constituents in new haven, east haven, west haven, guilford, a said note -- they said no. i broke the contract of citizenship. they said, you are on your own. my friends, our people cannot be on their own. we have a responsibility to act on the behalf of the american people when they are overwhelmed in circumstances that they have no control over. let this act today to restore that faith and confidence. >> the gentle lady's time has expired. the chair recognizes mr. hole for two and a half minutes. >> well, you heard it.
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our constituents ' lives have been impacted by hurricane sandy. central new jersey and connecticut and new york, people are hurting. towns have exhausted their emergency funds and their borrowing capacity. in other disasters such as the disaster associated with trina -- with katrina or wildfires or any other number of national -- natural disaster, this body has acted. aid was provided likely. it today, the speaker would allow the 112th congress to adjourn without passing a relief package. the aid package was well constructed. it was ready.
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all we needed was a vote. a delay is significant. it adds significantly to the hurt. it is not an exaggeration to say that lives are on the line. people are living wherever they can. they do not have the shelter. they do not have the businesses. they do not have their lives. the speaker just walks away. that compounds the disaster. it has been said, fema has the money already in their accounts. it will last for many weeks, and we're not just talking about fema. more than $1 billion, billions of housing, the army corps of
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engineers, the department of interior, the agricultural department for food, emergency watershed protection, the epa for safe drinking water -- all of this was in the well constructed package. it has been said that the governing principle of republican leadership is, you are on your own. that might be a conscientious principle if they really believe your social security should be privately invested or you should pay for college without government help. but this comment to say you are on your own after a disaster breaks our trust and violates an understanding and it hurts people. >> the gentleman's time has expired.
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the chair recognizes the gentle lady from new york. >> mr. speaker, this kind of petty partisan posturing is absolutely disgraceful. it is an act of spiteful and difference that will go down in history as a low point and a low era. shame on this house. this house acted quickly after katrina and in less than two weeks. it acted quickly for ike and gustav and a tornado in alabama . this country has to be there for the north east. 24 states were affected. it has been called the second worst natural disaster in the history of our country affecting over 17 million people in the most densely populated area of america.
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we cannot turn our backs on this entire region. every governor and mayor has fought. they were sure that the money would either. we cannot start to rebuild or repair without the resources being in place. the northeast are donor states. when the natural disaster struck our people, we lost lives, businesses, homes, complete devastation of the largest subway system in our entry moving 8 million people a day. where is the eight and the support? mr. speaker, introduced the senate bill tomorrow. let's come back into session and vote on friday. put the egg in place. -- put the aid in place.
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you cannot pick and choose which places get disaster relief. if they do not receive the disaster aid that has been for other people, we have been there for you. you need to be there for the northeast. it is devastated. we need that are laid. we cannot repair hospitals, image or infrastructures, without the support of the federal government. mr. speaker, do not turn your back on america. you need to support in a bipartisan way the aid that is desperately needed for the most densely populated area in our country after the worst -- second worst storm. time hasntle lady's
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expired. the chair recognizes mr. smith for five minutes. >> this is a bill we had hoped to bring to the floor and get us to that stick state million dollars that was needed to relieve families that were impacted by superstorm sandy. there is still time to bring this vital legislation to the floor for a vote and get the president's signature. numerous families in my district and further north are still coping with and recovering from the most destructive form ever in our region. today families lack housing, businesses are in shambles. in new jersey, thousands of housing units were damaged or destroyed. 22,000 units were rendered uninhabitable.
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they estimated that 11,000 vendors -- will have a roof over their heads this winter. new storm unemployment claims have been filed. 100,000 educated by the storm. -- 100,000 contributed by the storm. businesses were adversely affected. nearly 19,000 businesses sustained damage at $250,000 or more. far in excess of the loss businesses from katrina. whopping $8.3 billion. furthermore, an estimated 10,000 structures statewide will need to be demolished across new jersey or required remediation. 51 schools sustained serious
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damage, including six that will not reopen the school year. transit roads have been damaged to the tune of $2.9 million. one of the main roads that goes through my district, root ready five will require millions of dollars a repair. -- route 35 will require millions of dollars of repair. waste and water will be required of about $3 billion to repair. hospitals will need help in storm damage. these facts underscore the devastation unleashed by sandy. i was saying to my colleagues that it is about predictability
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and the certainty of funds to rebuild and restore. that ensures that the work proceeds immediately, comprehensively, and without interruption. four days and weeks, after that storm hit, i met with hundreds of thousands of tenacious women and men who despite crippling losses were happy to be alive and determined to build. i will never forget one resident and delmar and said, i have lost everything. at least i am alive. we need to ensure that the money is there and that they flow quickly to ensure that it can be built in the homes and businesses and unite behind them.
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those impacted by hurricane katrina, they got funds in two weeks. we are now past two months. we need to be clear. there was a loss of several weeks, but we have a bill. it is about 25% less. it is down to $60 billion. it is less. they are very well vetted. many people around them are former executors. they hate waste, fraud, and abuse. they want to make sure the money is there in the amounts needed to make a difference. let me say mr. speaker, we need to act. as my colleague before me said a moment before, we are educating
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states. -- could you getting cash buting states. we are devastated. i hope the speaker will bring this to the floor as quickly as possible to the people who have suffered. i yield back. >> the gentleman from new jersey yields back. the chair recognizes the gentle lady from california, ms. pelosi. >> thank you, mr. speaker. here we are again today. here is the thing -- everyone
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who heard about this since last night, came to the floor to speak about this and said, don't tell me that. don't tell me that even though everyone has seen very clearly the devastated damage that was caused by sandy and the need for people to have assistance at the house would not pick up the bill? do not tell me that even though the senate passed a very strong bill to address above documented needs of the people of the affected regions that the house is not taking up the bill. do not tell me that although the regional leadership and governors of new york and new jersey and connecticut and others have immediately addressed the need to the extent possible by them in their
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areas and have documented the need very carefully as to what federal participation was needed, do not tell me that the house of representatives is going to ignore that. mr. speaker, much has been said about the needs and politics and government. that ability relates to how we speak to each other and curb our enthusiasm about issues that we care a great deal about. the real civility that people expect is how this congress treats them and their needs. never is that tested more clearly than at times of national disaster. that is when people feel the most helpless. that is the time that they see whether the government is there for them or not. that is the time.
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hopefully what they replace will be a good substitute and maybe they can open a door to something new. by and large, it is a long road back. that first few steps of emergency relief that is provided are that localities need to be compensated for. the next age of recovery is essential to the character of a community. that was what, 2011? here we are at the end of 2012, having some of the same regions hit again by the power of water and in some places, fire and
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wind in terms of how it affects people. the rug was pulled out literally and figuratively from people's homes and schools and work leases. , your hopesto them cong and expectations of meeting needs -- do not tell me that. we cannot tell our constituents that. we cannot turn our backs and ignore their needs. it is plain wrong. i'm hopeful that those nicking the decision has not affected -- the northeast has been hit once, twice in 2011 and 2012 --
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missouri and iowa and the floods was devastating. it is hard unless you see it an impact that it has. the most compelling reason is to look in the eyes of people who ask, what can we do to help them? let's honor our responsibilities. the place that people waste their trust, in times of emergencies, that is when we prove our worth. let's prove our worth and bring this legislation to the floor and quickly dealt with while the senate is still there and get the president's signature.
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let us be able to tell people that we feel their pain and know what they are going through. we can never really know, but we can certainly appreciate their interest by doing what is right for them. i hope and pray, really hope and pray for these people. we pray for them all the time. we pray for them. how much pressure will it take for this congress to find it in their hearts and in their heads to do the right thing? let's pray we do not have to tell them that we were not there for them. >> new jersey governor chris christie was also critical of the house leadership. he spoke with reporters just before house boehner announced that there'll be a vote for
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hurricane sandy victims on friday. >> when hurricane andrew made landfall on august 24, 1992, congress and president bush 41 responded within 31 days with a federal aid package. when hurricane gustav made landfall in 2008 and hurricane ike 12 days later, congress and president bush 43 responded in 17 days with a federal aid package. when hurricane katrina made landfall on august 29, 2005, congress and president bush 43 responded with an initial $62.3 billion aid package in 10 days. hurricane sandy made landfall in new jersey on october 29, 2012, 66 days ago. and our state alone, 3,636 homes were damaged or destroyed. nearly 7 million were out power,
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some for up to 14 days. 600 state roads were closed. 127 shelters housed evacuated citizens, mass transit was closed. all new jersey schools were closed, some for weeks. tens of thousands of businesses were damaged or destroyed with many still closed. our jersey shore was devastated with the loss of homes, public buildings and iconic symbols of new jersey culture and economic vitality destroyed. tens of thousands of our citizens enter 2013, unsure of their future as they spent the holiday season displaced from all that was familiar and comforting. 31 days for andrew victims. 17 days for victims of gustav and ike, 10 days for victims of katrina, for the victims of sand
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-- sandy in new jersey, new york and connecticut, this is 66 days and the wait continues. there is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. this is not a republican or a democratic issue. national disasters happen in red states and blue states and states with democratic governors and republican governors. we respond to innocent victims of natural disasters, not as republicans or democrats, but as americans. or at least we did until last night. last night, politics was placed before our oath to serve our citizens. for me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch. on january 19, 2010, i took an oath to serve all the people of new jersey without regard to race, ethnicity, gender
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affiliation and i have worked as hard as i could to be loyal to that oath whether under the pressure of dealing with the legislature of the opposite party or the scrutiny of a hotly contested election, i have always put the people of new jersey in my oath ahead of petty, personal politics. last night, the house of representatives failed. that most basic test of public service and they did so with callous indifference to the suffering of the people of my state. if you want an example of how nonpartisan this issue should have been, i offer this for your consideration. near midnight last night, conservative congressman chris smith of new jersey and former speaker nancy pelosi of california both spoke on the floor in concert with each other and in support of this aid
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package. one for the record books, i suspect. on the equities, this should be a no-brainer for the house republicans as well. new york and new jersey used the international firm of makensey and company to quantify the damage to our state and our professional staff have spent countless hours to congressional staff providing backup documentation for all the damage claims. governor cuomo and i have spent hours and hours speaking to individual members of the house and senate to answer their questions. we worked with president obama and his administration and satisfied them of the urgent need of the $60 billion aid package. this was good enough for 62 united states senators of both parties to vote for this package. this was good enough for a majority of the house of representatives. it overcame all the factual challenges but could not overcome the toxic, internal politics of the house majority.
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finally, new jersey and new york are among the most generous states in the nation to our fellow states. we vote for disaster relief for other states in need. we are donor states, sending much more to washington, d.c., than we ever get back in federal spending. despite this history in our hour of desperate need, we have been left waiting for help six times longer than the victims of katrina, with no end in sight. americans are tired of the intrigue and political partisanship of this congress which places one upmanship who sent these people to washington, d.c., in the first place. the people of new york and new jersey are tired of being treated like second-class citizens. new york does better than the
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selfishness we saw on display last night. new jersey deserves better than what we saw last night. america deserves better than just another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and why. 66 days and counting. shame on you. shame on congress. despite my anger and disappointment, my hope is that the good people in congress, and there are good people in congress, will prevail upon their colleagues to finally, finally put aside the politics and help our people now. that's the only hope we have left, is for the good people to prevail upon the others. one thing i can assure the people of this region is this, governor cuomo and i will not stop fighting together to see that justice is done and our citizens' suffering is finally addressed by this congress. questions?
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matt? [inaudible question] >> listen, it's hard for me from this distance to speculate about the specifics of what caused this. all i can say is this, we were given assurances by everyone, myself and governor cuomo, over the weekend that this was going to be done. we got continued assurances as late as last night at 9:00 that as soon as the vote on the fiscal cliff was over that the rule would be discussed on the aid package. it's hard for me to tell. this was the speaker's -- his alone.
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and i can tell you our representatives down in congress on both sides of the aisle both in new york and new jersey were working with unrivaled bipartisan together. as to who i have spoken to, the president called me earlier today to assure me of his continued support and will be a priority for the administration. i spoke to majority leader cantor earlier today. i have to tell you that eric was working as hard as he could to get this done for us through the weekend and early part of this week and i had a conversation with the speaker this morning where he informed me he will be meeting this afternoon with members of the new jersey and new york delegation from the republican party. so to what's gone on, you have seen a lot of palace intrigue and folks are putting politics ahead of their responsibilities. i understand it's challenging as
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a politician to stop playing politics, but we have jobs to do. and i have been confronted with this situation a number of times. you do the right thing. it's for the people who sent you there. enough with all the politics. michael? [inaudible question] >> you have to ask them. i was given no explanation. i was given no explanation. i was called at 11:20 last night by leader cantor and told that authority for the vote was pulled by the speaker. and our delegation asked for a meeting with the speaker and were refused. i called the speaker four times last night after 11:20 and he did not take my calls, so you
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have to ask the speaker. [inaudible question] >> every day that we don't begin to get this aid are days that we can't help people get back in their homes and businesses reopened and get our economy moving. those are the real consequences. people not having the ability to plan their future. it's absolutely disgraceful. and i have to tell you, this used to be something that was not political. you know, disaster relief is something you didn't play games with. but now in this current atmosphere, everything is the subject of one-upmanship. and it is why the american people hate congress, it's why
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they hate them. and governor cuomo and iras-- and i are as frustrated as two people can be, unlike members of congress, we have responsibilities and we have the responsibility to make things happen. [inaudible question] >> i doubt it. i think most people have gone home. brian? [inaudible question] >> be happy to pay for it tomorrow for a hamburger today. i was being assured that this was going to be done.
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and i spoke to members from all over the country. i spent most of new year's eve and new year's day with members of congress soliciting their support and vote for this package. i'm not going to get into the specifics of what i discussed with john boehner today, but what i will tell you is, there is no reason to believe anything they tell me. because they have been telling me stuff for weeks and they didn't deliver. and it's an appropriate time for me to say, i have to give real credit to senator menendez, who worked extraordinarily hard in making this happen and he deserves great credit for it. and to give real credit to both the republican and democratic delegations in the house. they worked seamlessly together. i was on the phone with congressman frelinghuysen and congressman pallone who were
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taking the lead on this and they all worked tirelessly on this. so they deserve great credit. it ain't done until it's done. and we learned that at 11:20 last night that we were assured that it was going to happen. that's the difference, brian. if it gets done in a couple of weeks, again, every day that goes by drk talk to the people down at union peach, talk to the folks at tom's river. ask them another two weeks matters to them in their lives. those are the people that i'm concerned about and those are the people i care about not the politicians in washington, d.c., who will say whatever they need to say to get through the next day.
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[inaudible question] >> yes. and they should is, too. all i can tell them is what i said at the end here, governor cuomo and i are not wallflowers or shrinking violets and we have resources at our disposal, too. and we will work together and fight together to make sure that this happens. and i still believe it will happen, because i believe there are more good people in congress than bad and eventually this will happen. if the people of new jersey feel betrayed today by those who did this in the house last night, then they have good company. i'm with them. [inaudible question] >> i'm exercising one of them right now. matt. [inaudible question]
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>> none that i have been made aware of by counsel's office or the attorney general at this point. [inaudible question] >> i think you have to be a little more specific because there have been some people who have been extraordinarily helpful. certainly at the moment, i wouldn't be looking to do much for house leadership. [inaudible question] >> as long as it totals 60, i don't care how they split it up. that was an effort by cantor and
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frelinghuysen who took the co- lead to come up with something that would pass. there were many people in the republican caucus, a majority or more that would vote for the $27 billion and splitting it up, they would give, along with the democratic votes, they would get to the majority of the house. that was the strategy that leader cantor and congressman frelinghuysen came up with. and given what i heard from leaders in the democratic party in the house and republican members, i'm confident that the bill would have passed. >> would you take the $60 billion today? >> no.yeah? [inaudible question] >> completely ridiculous. [inaudible question] >> we sent a ton of information,
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leader cantor who is not known as a spendthrift was leading the way. this is like no-nothings out there who read something out of the ap about the stuff that was put in there by the senate and all of a sudden says this is a pork package. they should spend time reading information and less time reading their political talking points by their staff and they know who they are. [inaudible question] >> too early to tell. [inaudible question] >> again, congress controls its own calendar, this much we know. the president is ready, willing and able to sign this. we have a majority in the united states senate, both republicans
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and democrats who were favorably disposed to the $60 billion package and a majority of the house of representatives but it's up to the speaker. because it was his decision to stop it. [inaudible question] >> that's the point i was trying to make in response to brian's question, you know, there's always something down there. they are always bickering down there and not getting anything done. what's the next one down there? we have work to do here. and new jersey and new york have stood up every time to louisiana, alabama, florida, mississippi, missouri, alabama have needed aid for disasters. new jersey and new york's representatives regardless of
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party have stood up for them. it's now time for them to stand up for this region of the country as well. this should not be subject to politics. this is a basic function of government. and yeah i'm concerned about it, because every day it doesn't happen is a day it doesn't happen. i can't take anybody's assurances anymore.paul. [inaudible question] >> my understanding is that the flood insurance program will run out of money next week if not refinanced by congress. and so the speaker's irresponsible action in not moving on anything at least appears from the information i have been given will leave the flood insurance program broke by the end of next week.
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[inaudible question] >> i'm not concerned about that, but more the indecision that's the problem. we found in nondisaster-related times, the fact is they couldn't make a decision. so businesses sat for months and months and months waiting to be made. sitting on the governor's desk -- you know, we have wiped away a lot of that indecision in this administration. indecision is crippling the business decision. so if we can't act decisively, they won't. or worse yet, act indecisively somewhere else. so it's a concern.
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michael? [inaudible question] >> i have not yet been given an assurance from anyone that is credible with me about that. [inaudible question] >> listen, this is unfortunate. toxic politics of congress right now. they can't even agree with each other. for somebody who has a real job to do here, you know, who is held responsible for the lives and health and safety of people in this state, it is extraordinarily frustrating to me that we've got people down there who use the citizens of this country like pawns on a chest board. that's the way the citizens of
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new york and new jersey were treated last night. pawns on a chest board, our people were played last night as a pawn. and that's why people hate washington d.c. and hate politics. last night it was my party responsible. last night, my party was responsible for this. matt? [inaudible question] >> i'm not a member of the house, i don't get a vote. i don't care. [inaudible question] >> i don't know. i hope not. i hope that we're not really believing that people who live in new york and new jersey are second-class citizens given the fact that we contribute so much more to the operation of the federal government than we ever get back in return. there is a regional bias, it should be in our favor when we finally have a problem.
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but i can tell you this, a lot of our support for the $60 billion came from members in places like louisiana, alabama, florida, who have been through this, california, and who know how difficult this is. support from iowa as well. folks who have been through major disasters and know you don't play games with this. apparently that was ripped out of the house leadership manual for last night. [inaudible question] >> i don't think i have anything to do with this, guys. internal house politics. i don't think i have anything to do with it. [inaudible question] >> yes, i was. [inaudible question]
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>> maybe 30, maybe between 30 and 40. [inaudible question] >> no one is beyond redemption. do your job. and come through for the people of this country as a national leader the way you should and i'll be fine. everybody makes mistakes. last night was a big mistake. he hasn't lost all credibility with me but right now, but i think what happened last night was absolutely uncalled for and i have been given no credible explanation as to why.
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but, again, he's the speaker of the house and tomorrow's another day. so, you know, he can prove to me that he really does care about the people of new york and new jersey by getting this package done [inaudible question] >> the only discussion was the $400 million or so that was put into the bill by the senate for non-sandy-related stuff, fisheries, something in alaska and colorado and a roof on the smithsonian. there were a couple of things like that. but other than that -- now, there are some who have a philosophical point of view that some of the things in the package should never be related to disaster relief. they questioned the sill philosophical approach. no one has said our numbers are wrong, bad, inflated or cooked or anything like that. [inaudible question]
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>> get the package done. i don't think it's possible to get it done in this congress. the information i'm getting from our members, members who have retired are gone. so you may not have enough people in the capitol at this moment to get it done. i don't know. listen, if that were possible, i would love to have it done today concurred with by the senate tomorrow and have this over with, but i'm hoping this gets put on a fast track to getting done as quickly as possible. you heard the numbers. you know, 10 days on katrina, 17 days on ike and gustav and 31 days on andrew. by those days, they had their money in hand. this is 66 days and counting. it's unprecedented and outrageous. they are all so caught up in this politics of this fake fiscal cliff and so consumed by their own palace intrigue between the house of representatives, the white
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house, senate, this house, versus this group of house republicans that they forget we sent them there. we sent them there to do the work for us. not sit down there and play with each other and that's what they're doing. this thing has been -- the president sent this three weeks ago. fully vetted by o.m.b. three weeks ago. no reason for this bill to be sitting ruined and didn't do it with anyone else and i believe it's not a regional thing. i believe it's the fact that they are so consumed with their own internal politics that they have forgotten that they have a job to do. it's not all playing to you
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guys. they have a job to do. when you're governor, you never forget that. governor cuomo and i don't have that luxury. matt? [inaudible question] >> no. no. no. no. no. no this is internal -- i'm telling you, matt, this is internal politics, that's what it is. charlie? [inaudible question] >> i'm dealing with the tea party, next. no. no. charlie -- charlie, i'm off it. you hear my answer to him. why would my answer to you be any different? next question. come up with something else. next question. [inaudible question]
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>> listen, our ability to be able to help small businesses on the shore and elsewhere get up and running, huge difference, help people get back in their homes, huge difference, to know we can rebuild the beaches and make the inland areas safe and safe to rebuild in these towns, these are all real life things. what happened to the infrastructure, new jersey transit, utilities and others. these are things that need to be decided. are they going to be paid by rate pairs? these are things that need to be decided, but none of these decisions can be made until we know what role the federal
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government is going to play in this and that delays people's return to complete normalcy. that is my role as governor to complete them to normalcy. they impede my ability to do that. and that's incredibly frustrating, because it's hard enough to do this even if everything was working well, even if they acted in 17 days, 10 days or 31 days, it would still be difficult to do that. and so when they continue to delay this long with no end in sight, it becomes even more challenging and more discouraging. i really don't, i would just be guessing. every day that goes by is a wasted day. it's a wasted day when we can't do things. [inaudible question]
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>> steve probably should have left the last sentence off, he would have been bretter -- better off. [inaudible question] >> we'll see. primaries are an ugly thing. yes. [inaudible question] >> people understand that mitigation in new jersey is somewhat of a different issue when you talk about the shoreline. if the rebuilding of the beach mitigation or is it restoration? it depends on in the eyes of the beholder but you can't responsibly rebuild unless and until you know that you are going to have a barrier at the beach and then how high do you build, how far back do you build.
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that is dependent upon what the shoreline looks like. that may be mitigation but to me it is restoration to what it was before so you can make investment decisions on how to rebuild private property and governmental property. luke? [inaudible question] >> neither am i, obviously. [inaudible question] >> i hope whatever they wanted to achieve amongst each other they acheeved so i can move on to business. if one set of republicans was trying to prove another thing. if the speaker was trying to prove something, i hope he achieved it.
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i hoped they accomplished it so we can move on to business. there were no -- to this moment, there has been no substantive reason given to me as to why and certainly not by the decision makers. bob. [inaudible question] >> really? is that what you call it? a huge epic battle? [inaudible question] >> i'm not here as a political pundit to analyze that stuff for you guys. get somebody else to do it. all i know is i was given assurance that the fiscal cliff battle was going on and i was given assurance at 9:00 that it wasn't lost upon them that the epic battle had been engaged. i can't tell you why, bob, i
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don't know. you have this fascination with the tea party. i'm not going to be a pundit for you guys. my job is to tell you what i know and the facts that i know. yes, ma'am? [inaudible question] >> i can't understand it. that's all i can conclude is that they were trying to do because there were no substantive reasons for the action, so i have to believe there were political reasons for the action. i didn't create it. why is it? people who compete with each other power generally fight well doing it. nothing new. brian?
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i'm not going to talk about my conversation with the speaker today. i have said that no one has given me a substantive, credible reason for it not being done today. i'm not going to discuss the specifics of my conversation with the speaker because i would like to have conversations with the speaker in the future. and if i talk about everything i talked about, i suspect as would happen with me if i start having private conversations with folks and someone characterizes, probably the last time they are going to talk to me. if i do my job the right way, i have to be smart about this. charlie? [inaudible question] >> sure, vote no. vote no. majority rules. if they want to vote no, vote
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no. i'm not saying someone has to vote our way, i think they should, but i'm not saying they have to. what happened yesterday, it wasn't even allowed to happen. if you're down there playing games, not moving things along, not making decisions, yes or no, you're not doing your job. when you sit around and delay and give assurances to people that it will be done and it's not done, that's not doing your job. put it up, vote yes or new york move on. this is like the people we have down the hall with the senate democrats who don't want to have up or down votes on supreme court justices, prosecutors, all these other people because what they know is they don't have any substantive reason to oppose those people. the same way most of these folks didn't have any substantive way to oppose this. that's the problem. [inaudible] >> absolutely support the leadership. i don't believe that's what the
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report said. i mean, i think you've guilded that report up pretty well in the leadup to your question. i don't think that's what the report said. i think these guys made the best decisions they could in the circumstances. once you see the yard is flooded, you can say, they would have move -- they should've moved the trains. if they had known it was going to flood, they would've moved
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the trains. he made the best decisions he could at the time. sometimes people make wrong decisions. it happens. it's not a hanging offense. questions? all right. >> a very productive and positive meeting with the speaker john boehner. we have been assured the first installment will be $9 billion in flood insurance put on the calendar. the remaining $51 billion will be voted on. this is basically the same we were promised yesterday. this is the package we were looking for. the bottom line is between friday morning and january 15, the two votes will bring -- it's absolutely necessary.
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as far as i am concerned, it is extremely positive news. >> $9 billion this friday? >> $9 billion on flood insurance friday. january 15, an additional $61 billion will be voted on. that will come to a total of $60 billion. it is in the past. that was his decision and we disagree with it. that is in the past. all we care about is my constituents. i take him at his word. it is a question of the timetable.
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$9 billion, then we have to introduce a bill and start all over. that will be done on one day on january 15. one thing at a time. my job is the house. it should be fully resolved in the house on january 15. >> will you vote for john boehner? >> yes, i will. >> are you satisfied? >> this procedure that is laid out is fully satisfactory. it will give us the full $60 billion. so yes. >> this was a case where a very
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unified new york and new jersey delegation kept making cases as to why the $60 billion is critical. the speaker opened up the meeting by saying it will happen on january 15. the flood insurance will come up on friday. we have had unprecedented solidarity. we have made our case. we have read the information that came down from governor christie. line by line. this is all about people who have lost their homes, businesses, and 100,000 new jersey people have filed for insurance. it is a devastation the likes of which we have never seen in our part of the country. we do have support. the amendment for the $33
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billion. it might be different. it will get us to the $60 billion. it will be a two-step process. >> i will be offering $33 billion, which will make the $60 billion. the assurances we had are ironclad. this recognizes the heartache and misery both of our states and the region has suffered. governor christie emphasized in his press conference, it has been 66 days. this time congress responded. i am pleased we were listened to. >> line not vote on the senate bill and have it done today? >> that was our hope. it will happen at the amount we
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think is required to meet the legitimate needs. >> did the speaker tell you the reason? >> he alluded to the fact there was so much going on but did not give us specifics. for us, it is about getting critical aid to those suffering. i have never seen devastation like this. you know how bad it is. this money is needed to rebuild and provide recovery that will get us to the next stage. >> you will vote for john boehner tomorrow? >> yes. >> absolutely. i will vote for speaker boehner. i wanted a moment to look in the eyes and shake hands with the speaker and erick kanter. both of them shook my hand and gave me their word this vote will go forward as planned. and that they will be there for us. i want to emphasize the one thing that has been getting lost here. i have had discussions with speaker boehner for almost nine weeks now about the sandy disaster and the people in need.
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i never questioned where his heart was. he wants to help the people of new york and new jersey. i do not agree with his call to delay the vote. i do not support it at all. i do not think it was the right call. i do not think he does not want to help. it was because of the timing issue. it was never because he does not want to help new york or
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new jersey. i want to make that clear. that was never in question. i disagree with the vote. i think we all did. we have to do the very next best thing, which is not waste any more time. we have that commitment. i stayed behind to make sure i personally got it. that is good enough for michael.
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>> whatever it was, what is done is done. that is it. >> did the speaker say anything about governor chris christie's comments? >> no. we are big boys and we understand that. the bottom line is we give the majority of leader time. >> you were at the meetings the republicans had yesterday about the fiscal cliff. too much spending in the
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governments and the fact that there should be spending cuts. do you understand politically why the house speaker, after making the decision he did? >> he had to make a decision. we disagreed. that was a lifetime ago as far as i am concerned. the bottom line is we are going forward, getting what we believe is necessary. there is no reason to question what happened before. we got individual commitment. that is all. as long as the votes go through
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on generous 15, we will be satisfied. >> it never came up? one thing new york and new jersey has always done, we have been through tough times. we look forward. we will not look back and say what could have been. people are suffering right now. small businesses are going under. we have economic calamity waiting in the winds if we do not rebuild new york and new jersey. that is what we are focused on doing. we got the commitment on our
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leader and that is what we are focused on. making sure we have votes and support for january 15. >> he said they thought they had enough money. >> the bottom line is we need the $60 billion. to rebuild, you have to have that funding. >> you need the money with full expectations it is there, not something that may happen. otherwise, you cannot do the engineering studies. this is a very complete package that has been very well thought out. we have something we can be really proud of in terms of legislation that will help huge numbers of people. >> there are no earmarks. everything in that bill relates directly to sandy and the super storm.
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>> [inaudible] >> we do not discuss contributions in a government building. [laughter] >> thank you.
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ññó??
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>> i tend to flip over to the senate every now and again, especially if there is something important going on. coverage of the floor. the c-span has it. i even listen to c-span radio in my car sometimes if it is there. >> c-span, treated by america's cable companies in 1979, brought to you as a public-service by your television provider. john and us on c-span for live coverage. -- join us on c-span for live coverage. new members of the house of senate -- house and senate.
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"washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> the point we have seen of the years is not as economic. it is troublesome. it is that more than economic. if you ruffle the feathers of someone powerful, that gets people running in. we were very fortunate through the 70's. let the chips fall where they may. >> your calls, e-mails, and
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tweets. the co-authors of eight books. watch live sunday at 12:00 eastern. >> now, a forum on iran's nuclear program. this debate includes a look at u.s. and israel policy in the middle east. ♪ >> i never heard such a stupid thing. [laughter] [indiscernible] >> then you have to come back and you are shaken up. >> i have yet to hear a serious
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argument from either of these two. no, no, you have had your say. >> you have got to say something. >> i am not prepared to sacrifice for some free market ideology. ♪ >> we are all in this. running a trade surplus unless we can find another to sell to. >> we remain unlike japan. the place where everyone in the world wants to come and the place everyone in the world wants to put their money. >> we created communists. we make two world wars. >> so what. big deal. [applause] >> if you get sick and choose to go to the united states, you have a higher risk of medical
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error. the cures for aids and alzheimer's will come from america, not canada. >> imagine a world without religious faith. not just no place to worship, no prayer, no scripture, but no men or women who, because of their faith, dedicate their lives to others. >> over us to supervise this. a celestial dictatorship.
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a kind of divine north korea. [laughter] >> i can't believe i'm about to say this, but dr. kissinger, you have six minutes. >> i think that is the kind of hypocritical argument i would find quite annoying. [laughter] >> you obviously finding it annoying even if you are not chinese. [laughter] >> well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the munk debates on iran. [cheers and applause] this is munk's debates on iran's nuclear ambitions.
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it is my privilege to organize this series and once again at as your moderate. we begin with a look back, a look back of some of the memorable moments of previous debates. tonight is a special evening for this series. tonight is our 10th semiannual munk debate. as we enter our fifth year we have hosted over 38 speakers. speakers such as tony blare, henry kissinger and larry summers. it is thanks to you the 3,000 people here tonight for the munk debate and the thousands watching online. all of you are representing our 30,000 strong memberships. this debate series is making a lasting contribution to more and better public debates, not only in canada but internationally.
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we're doing that through global tv and radio broadcasts through the bbc through the supporters of this debate and threw a unique publishing program that has seen these debates translated into over a dozen languages and are published throughout the english-speaking world. it is undeniable this series is having an impact. all of this would not be possible without you, our members, and two other very special people. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a big round of applause for tonight's 120th semiannual debate and hosts of the organization. [cheers and applause] ok, the moment we've been waiting for.
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let's get our two-team of powerhouse debaters out on to the stage and our contest under way. arguing for the motion, the world cannot tolerate an iran with nuclear weapons capability are charles krauthammer and amos yadlin. [cheers and applause] well, given tonight is an anniversary of sorts for the
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munk debates who better to have on stage than one of the debaters from our winning team from our first debate in 2008. he writes a must-read column, it is syndicated in over 150 newspapers around the world. he is on fox news for not suffering fools gladly ladies and gentlemen, please welcome charles krauthammer. given recent events in the middle east we're fortunate indeed to host as charles' debating partner as his career in israeli defense force was synonymous with the nuclear threats that confronted his country. high liabilities include being one of eight f-16 pilots in 1981 and to most recently playing a key role in managing israel's overt campaign against iran's nuclear enrichment program. now, let get out on the stage
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the duo who will be arguing against tonight's resolution the world cannot tolerate iran with a nuclear capability vali nasr and fareed zakaria. [cheers and applause] vali nasr leads john hopkins school of international study, he is one of the world's top exerts in the political and social developments of iran. he is the author of two best- selling books.
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he sits on the state department's influential board and has served as a senior advisor as recently as 2011 for afghanistan and pakistan. ladies and gentlemen, dean vali nasr. [cheers and applause] now, when you think of provocative conversation on the big foreign policy challenge of the day you have to think about our next debater. his program on cnn is seen in over 200 countries worldwide but he's anything but a talking head on tv. he writes a column for "the washington post" and is the edit or "time" magazine. please welcome back to the munk debate stage journalist fareed zakaria. [cheers and applause]
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now we're moments from getting our debate under way but before we hear opening statements, once again, i need this audience assist answer to make sure our debaters stay on time in terms of their opening and closing remark and we move forward as a debate together. so you will see this countdown clock, this clock appear. when it reaches zero applaud. this will let our debaters know that their time is over for their opening and closing statements. before we kick off the debate let's see how the 3,000 people gathered today voted on our resolution that the world cannot tolerate iran with nuclear weapons.
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let's see the numbers there. debaters you will have it on your screen here. 60% in favor of the motion. 23% opposed 17% undecided. now we all asked -- answered a second question depend on what you hear during the debate, are you open to changing your vote? how many swing states do we have in the audience this evening? let's see those results. past munk debates we have seen higher levels of potential vote changing. so this debate is very much in play. now, time for opening statements. as we've agreed to the order,
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dr. charles krauthammer you're up first. >> thank you very much. thank you for that kind introduction. there are nice introductions and there are kind introductions. the nice ones they list your achievements and they get a copy and they send it to your mother. the kind introductions where they leave stuff out. for example, i appreciate you leaving out the fact that i once worked for the liberal senator walter mondale. people ask me -- wrong reaction. people sometimes ask me how do you go from walter mondale to fox news? i tell them it is easy i was young once. also i appreciate that t fact that you left out i was once a psychiatrist, technically i still am but in reality i'm a sick terrorist in remission,
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doing well, thank you. i have not had a relapse in 25 years. sometimes i compare what i do as a political analyst in washington with what i do -- what i did back then as a psychiatrist and i tell people, as you can imagine it is not that different. bone lines of work i deal with people who suffer from paranoia and delusions of grandeur. the only difference is that in washington people have access to nuclear weapons. it makes the stakes higher and the work more interesting which
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leads us to tonight's debate. nuclear weapons in the hands of a regime like iran. can we live with it and the answer is no. i will give you three reasons to start off the debate and then we'll get into the details as we go on. i'm sure you will enforce the six-minute rule. the first reason, i think we have to look at this in deceasing size the global, the regional and the local effect. the world has been for 60 years trying to curtail and prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. hyper proliferation is the world's nightmare. imagine what a world would be like where iran, the most powerful, most aggressive and according to the state department, the greatest exporter of terror in the world, the most aggressive state, the most radical state in the middle east acquires nuclear weapons. that is the extent of nonproliferation. you think the weaker nations
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are going take refuge in the treaty? no. here's what will happen, uncontrollable nuclear proliferation throughout the region roiled by revolution and secretary rain feuds. those are the words of henry kissinger when it works and when it doesn't. we'll get a nuclear arms race all the neighbors, saudi arabia, turkey, egypt, syria, think of syria -- god knows who will be in charge of syria will all have nuclear assuming that iran goes nuclear first. this is not just the middle east it is going spread. our opponents are going to speak
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about deterrence. our experience that we've had is the stable deterrence in a in a bipolar system, united states and soviet union. imagine that you have to do deterrence with unstable countries and with shifting alliances. how do you enforce or rely on deterrence in those circumstances. you can get accidental or unauthorized use, you can get theft, you can be the delivered proliferation in the hands of terrorists. imagine what al qaeda would do what it did on 9/11 if they
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would hesitate for a second if they got hair hand on nuclear weapons. that is the threat and the end of nonproliferation and the end of relying on deterrence. we always try to prevent a rise in the middle east in the control of the oil. that's why there was an iraq war in 1991 over the invasion of kuwait. what the arabs understand, once iran is nuclear it becomes the most aggressive islamic state in charge of the area in the middle east. that's why those have beseeched the united states to take out the nuclear program in advance. the saudis would line the deserts with arrows saying this way. lastly, i'm running out of time, i hope, perhaps you will resist from applauding at six-minute mark, or at least the 60% who are not sympathetic to our view and drown out the others. this is a regime that has threatened to annihilate israel and expressed its intentions to do so. we are relying on deterrence
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because it worked in the cold war. the cold war was different. the target of the united states was a continental nation, israel is a one bomb country. [cheers and applause] i commend you. i will stop here and say there is a radical difference between the soviet -- u.s. relationship. you will not ask jews in israel to rely on deterrence in this kind of situation. thank you very much. >> charles, if it makes you better henry kissinger re did
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not get away with it either. >> thank you for that introduction. it is a -- introduction it is a pleasure being here. it goes without saying that the world would be better if iran does not become a nuclear arms state. achieving that goal should be our principle priority going forward. however, despite our best efforts that undesirable end may come to pass. should we act suicide if this is the first time we encounter such a challenge or the logical deterrence does not apply to iran.
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the answer is no. as troublesome as iran has been its behavior reflects the pursuit of national interest. it has a strategy, it pursues it and in the course of doing so it reacts to incentives and pressure. we don't approve of its method but we understand its goals. iran is a familiar problem one with which we have plenty of experience. during the cold war, we managed decent prosperity in europe and asia containing armed soviet union and china. the principle is clear and we are still guaranteeing decent prosperity in asian with a north korea regime that is armed and on a weekly basis threatens to set villages on fire.
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it is known for its instability and support for terrorism. in that situation has been going on for over two decades and yet, there is a stable containment situation in which the indian economy has been prospering. it is often argued that iran is different because they the iranian regime is irrational. so much so it is impervious to the logic. it is assumed that iran's aim is to start a nuclear armageddon the minute it gets nuclear weapons. it is mandated to do so. there are plenty of american politicians that believe in the happen church but that does -- rapture. if iranians were driven in their foreign policy they would have rejected when their shrine was blown up in iraq in 2006 and yet they didn't. the last time iran attacked a
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neighbor was in 1859 to reclaim territory that was snatched away by great britain. the record of the past three decades shows that as problematic as iran's behavior has been it is still driven by cold calculations of regime survival and national interests. to don't need a degree understand iran's strategy or conclude that the regime that has survived for three decades could not be suicidal or completely reckless. in fact, support for terrorism, iran is more accepting of international norms that are the case with communist china or pakistan. we talk about the proliferation issue. it was pakistan in america's tight embrace that began to act as a nuclear country.
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if we say we won't tolerate a nuclear iran then we have to say we're prepared to go down the path with war with iran. we have to ask you can we tolerate another major war in the middle east? this time with a country that is twice as large as iraq. it has larger land mass and its capitol city is two mountain ranges away from the nearest port facilities. will that war be effective? will it get the job done? how long will that war take? five years, 10 years, 20 years longer? how much will it cost? how many americans will die in such a war? 10,000, 15,000, more? how will such a war impact the middle east or america for that matter? do we want such a war? can we tolerate it? it seems that americans have already answered this from of
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the president it down, they have answered clearly and it is a no. they don't want such a war. the good news is they don't have to have it. if it becomes necessary, if the diplomatic efforts, the sanctions to stop iran were to fail we can manage a nuclear iran just as we managed china, north korea, and pakistan. thank you. [applause]
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i think you can misinterpret that in both directions. the republican failure is to say that people are frustrated with government said they will want to shrink government. that is not what people are asking for. they cannot just say less government. they want a government whose policies are more fair and more balanced. you can read it too far in the other direction as a kind of, to use the phrase republicans use, as a kind of class warfare, that working-class americans resent what wealthy americans have and are really ready to get out there with a pitchfork and take them down.
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you do not see that either in the polling. there is not a lot of evidence the public is really outraged by growing disparities. in fact, a poll last year asked people to rate the importance of a number of economic policies in shrinking the income gap -- that was one of the lowest priorities. the higher priority was changing policy so that people had a fair chance to get ahead. that is what people feel. that again is something about what the government can do, not what the government should not do. in that respect it is a theme that obama has done a reasonably good job in his rhetoric of tackling, whether it is policy or not. the current landscape, there is no question the republicans are in a bad position going into this situation. people are ready to blame the republicans if we go over this fiscal cliff. part of it is the substance --
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they are holding out for keeping tax rates down when the public has for years and years said tax rates should go up. way back before 2010 and 2009, the public was saying to raise taxes. there also behind at the image perspective, and a part of the problem that their brand has now is they are seen as the party of extremism and the party of intransigence, that the damage that came out in the summer of 2011 with the debt ceiling debate -- the public did not engage deeply with that policy debate because they sniffed out very early on, the public is more sophisticated than some people think at times, they sought this was a purely symbolic debate. it was being used as a political tool to make other political arguments.
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people were very frustrated about that. the republican party took the brunt of the blame for that. nobody came out of the debt ceiling debate looking good. obama's ratings went down. the republican party's ratings went down much more. that is when we started to see wider opening in the gap of perceptions -- the republican party has not overcome that image now. we are going into a similar debate from the public perspective now, playing a similar strategy, and it is probably not going to work terribly well for them if they do not shifted a little bit. >> right here. >> how do you factor into your polls what political campaign workers would call ground game? when they say obama outperformed his polls, do you have to attribute some of that to get out the vote efforts?
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do you try to factor that in before? how you deal with that -- besides watching every county courthouse and people coming out with early voting? >> is one of the challenges for polling. campaigns are using technology to target -- is no longer just about running ads that may or may not reach people. there is a more targeted effort to get people to the polls in specific states, and specific parts of states. we're only doing national polls at my firm, so i do not have a lot of tools to try to adjust for that or understand what that dynamic is about. he certainly see it in our polls, when you look at people in key battleground states like ohio and florida. they were experiencing a much
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different campaign and folks in other states, not only in terms of the ads but phone calls and people knocking on doors. facebook and all the kinds of campaign activities going on. it does mean that -- it used to be the race in a contested state was a more intense version. now it could be fundamentally different. not only in the means they use to reach people, but the message is happening in different states. the economic emphasis in ohio is different than in florida. florida was still focused more on the housing market. ohio was focused on jobs and the auto industry. both obama and romney campaigned with different arguments to try to appeal to people in different
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ways. that is always the case, but more and more the case. so i think what it gets to in terms of turnout is what we have always done does not change. when we try to figure out who is going to turn out, we are basically asking people who are planning to vote, how interested are they in the campaign? how much does the campaign matter to you? to you expressed views? to lead a history of voting that suggests you well get out to the polls? other folks of trying to make assumptions about how many democrats or republicans will get to the polls, how many minorities or whites, how many young or old. we do not do that. i do not have to get into that kind of model, but most of the campaign polls do. it is a bigger challenge for them. >> i have heard some things about changes in reaching voters -- for instance, around cell phones.
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i wonder, what other changes like that in methodology of your organization or similar organizations -- what kind of changes have you done recently? what changes big and small do you see coming down the road? >> it is getting to be more and more of a challenge all the time to do public opinion research. i attribute a lot of it to technology. people are harder to reach even though they have more technology. some of that is because they are -- we have learned to become more skeptical of unsolicited calls. there is a lot more resistance to sharing than there used to be, which is an understandable reaction to an environment where there are perceived threats to over sharing in some circumstances.
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also, it makes it -- most of the main polls had a pretty good methodology for how to incorporate cell phones. there are different ways to do it, but they all seem to work effectively. even with that, the cost goes up when you introduce cell phones into your survey. it is fundamentally a more expensive process because you have to hand dial them because of fcc rules. it was a role established early on to the event itself funds from getting dialed by market research calls. the fundamental thing they did -- they cannot be automatically dialed by a computer. call centers have to operate more slowly. it is harder to get people. we still reach a lot of folks on their cell phones.
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i think moving forward, a lot of the questions turned on whether, and ultimately hal, we can incorporate some form of on-line interviewing into the data collection process. a lot of polls are already almost web based entirely. there are a lot of ethics of trying to do that. the biggest challenge is being rep. it is still not the case that every american is on-line, and certainly not the case that every american is sophisticated enough to be able to navigate and to a public opinion interview effectively on the internet. so finding and building a sample of people is really difficult. one of the most common questions is, why don't you just use people's e-mail addresses? there is no list of every e- mail address out there, so there is no place to sample from, and some of you probably have six e-mail addresses and others might have won and of course some have none.
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how do a random sample e-mail addresses and get anything that is really representative of a cross-section of the public? those of the kinds of challenges that internet service pose, as well as how people react -- rather than a visual interaction. there are all sorts of methodological issues involved. but i do think it is the direction things are moving. part of it is the comfort levels. for a lot of people, the notion of having a 20-minute conversation about political issues on the phone is way beyond what they would be willing to do, but they might participate in something if they could do it on myself of their commuting on a trainer something or they could fit into their life in a more convenient way and do it on their schedule
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rather than on our schedule. those are the sorts of things that we will ultimately have to tackle to try to continue to collect a cross-section of americans. >> when you see someone who sees a poll released, what kinds of questions ought to come to mind taking about the results? what should you automatically think about from your perspective? >> there are a lot of polls. i am in insider, and the flood of service coming in prior to this election was overwhelming. you are trying to navigate. a couple things to pay attention to. one is, think about the reputation of the institution you are hearing from. if you have not heard from them before, i am not saying you should throw them out that it is worth thinking more about what you are hearing. it is easy to produce numbers these days.
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technology allows people to create numbers very quickly in a very low cost. but what those numbers really mean is a tougher question. so you see a lot of what some people refer to as robo-dialed calls, which are completely automated and there is a voice in the press 1 for obama and 24 romney. they get very low results. the use their own wizardry to try to compensate. how much of that is science and how much of that is just numbers is a big question. it is hard to pull apart all those different glasses of polls. i fully understand that. i think the burden is still on the media to do a better job of trying those distinctions or lease topping to guide people if the only numbers available are from polls that have a less than clear methodology.
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all polls -- no poll is perfectly accurate. we all face challenges in getting a sample of americans, but at the end of the day the main polls you hear about, whether it is pew research or gallup, they are transparent about what they are doing and they allow experts to evaluate the methodology going on. a lot of other polls that you hear from frequently, the rasmussen poll, nobody knows how they are done. the methodology is internal and hard to deconstructs with the numbers came from. i'm not saying they're being made up. but they are not providing analysts the tools to evaluate what is going on.
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>> one more question -- you had your hand up, sir. >> you suggested there was a shift happening in terms of turning out. the gap between non-white and white, old and young -- you suggested it might be about barack obama in particular. what is the evidence this phenomenon might not last? >> i am not sure. maybe i'm making a supposition -- i think the evidence for the other side is that they did not, a lot of this did not show up in 2010 when obama was not on the ballot. you could draw the lesson from that -- his presence is a factor. but i tend to discount that argument a bit because midterm elections are different than presidential elections. there's a whole class of the american electorate, approaching
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a third of registered voters, who really only show up for presidential elections because that an election people see as mattering. what we see in the cycles is a level of engagement that is consistent. i have to say, the analysis we did, i would not have expected the turnout levels among young voters and latino voters to be as high as it was four years ago. the fact that it was suggests something more fundamental is going on than just a personal loyalty. but i think we want know until we see it. this is one of the things -- we will all be struggling with when we get to 2016, whether the fundamentals we saw are the new rules. >> thank you so much for a fascinating discussion. [applause]
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>> the 113th congress begins today at noon. join us on c-span for live coverage of the roll-call of members and election of the speaker. on washington journal, a look at the congress but the managing editor of the hill. new members of the house and senate, including pete gallego, tom cotton, and jeff flake. to was leaving the house to join the senate. we will also be joined by mike pocan and gloaria ncle --
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gloria mcleod. >> you do not always find many ms. perez embracing investigative reporting -- many reporters investigating reporting. if you are going to ruffle the for others -- the feathers of somebody powerful. we were very fortunate to out our career to work for people who were strong and upright in that area and let the chips fall where they may appear >> investigated team of donald bartlett and james steele will take your calls and e-mails this week and on and depth. they began their collaborative
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work in the 1970's and are the co-authors of 8 books. wash alive sunday on noon eastern. >> john boehner says the house will vote tomorrow on a $9 billion plan for a victims of hurricane sandy. the second vote held january 15, an additional $50 billion. before that announcement, house members criticize the leaders for not scheduling a vote of faster 8 for the northeast. their comments are in a few minutes. then a news conference with new jersey governor chris christie who was also critical of house leaders for delaying a vote on sandy assistance. after a day of heated remarks about not considering a disaster aid spending bill, there will be a vote this week after all. a staff writer for cq roll-call
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joins us. what happened? >> they are moving ahead now. the most urgent need is the blood program. we will see that on friday. then they said it will take up the rest of the package on january 15th. >> why didn't house republican leaders scheduled a vote before the end of the 100th of congress? >> at celtic they thought -- it sounds like they thought it would have a hard time getting to the fiscal class. -- getting through the fiscal cliff. >> you talked about how it will work going forward. what happens next? >> the most dire need is adjusting the flood program.
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that was the same money we saw in the senate bill and chairman rogers initial response filter that $9 billion. then it will come back on the 15th. it will see what form it comes in. it might look like the two part until we saw chairman rogers proposed yesterday. $18 billion and then a larger bill with long-term recovery money. >> the senate has already passed a disaster bill. will congress have to start the process all over again in the 113th congres? >> the house is only identify about an hour. that bill will expire, all the
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work done on that. we know what they want to do. they should be able to move fairly quickly on this one to the house get the bill back over. it would been more unusual to have the senate do it. >> why is it in this bill done as soon as possible so important for lawmakers pushing for it? >> it is not a " practice to leave dry. -- not a good practice toleave them dry. they will have to tell people apply for new applications for recovery 8 then hold off on projects. congress has done this repeatedly in the past decade. ticket immediate needs funding. it is very disruptive. -- they go to immediate needs funding. it is very disruptive. the fema and flood money,
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there seems to be broad bipartisan support. >> we appreciate your time. before speaker boehner announced the vote on aid for hurricane said the victims, members of the house criticized the delay in the vote. this part of the debate is an hour. >> mr. speaker, it was to my profound disappointment that i learned last night the house would adjourn the 100 call congress without providing assistance to the victims of superstore mess sandy. i'm joined today by many of my colleagues from the jurisdictions of the people that receive the most damaging blow. my district did not sustain extreme damage as those in new york and jersey.
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the president declared several maryland counties available for assistance. -- eligible for assistance. the citizens of some we will hear from today are in that condition. those counties joined hundreds in a 1,000 mile diameter of this storm. the largest geographically in the history of the at that the hurricanes. the speaker said sandy's bid does will lead to wait until the next congress to receive assistance. wait, they say to millions who are in pain and in distress. we should not be waiting.
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we should be voting this very morning which i expected to happen in my discussions with the majority leader. as i said last night, i met -- i went with a congressman to the rockaways in new york, and what i saw defied description and demanded action. those who say fema has not yet disbursed all the funds it has to assist families and businesses, i would tell them that they deeply underestimate the damage in these areas and the wide range of assistance required to alleviate the pain and suffering. at the park, i saw mountains of debris that the corps of engineers had begun to remove. that represented people's lives, homes, and businesses. we would have provided up to
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$1.6 billion to continue removing debris so the families can begin rebuilding. would we have had to borrow that money? yes, just as if the furnace and out and the temperature was at zero -- we would immediately replace the furnace to keep the family say and bar the money to do so. and yes, we would have had to repay it, and we would. this bill would have allocated $6 million of emergency aid for food banks, food banks to make sure people in the richest country on the face of the earth have some sustenance for them and their children. i saw an area of breezy point were more than 100 homes are devastated by fire when an electric transformer malfunctioned. the many firefighters who lived in that neighborhood did not get additional help from surrounding boroughs. they saved many lives. but there is the left, indeed none, of their homes.
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i saw local businesses that had been there for years completely destroyed, waiting for the $620 million of assistance this bill would have provided. we talked a lot about not imposing burdens on small businesses buy additional taxes. these small businesses are out of business without our help. we walk away from nearly $4 billion in assistance to help reconstruct rockaway beach and other places, which is critical to the areas economic recovery and important to prevent further storm damage. finally, there is also the toll on transit and infrastructure, including inundated subways and traffic tunnels referred to last night. this bill would have provided up to $10.9 billion for transit and $2.2 billion for highways to help make sure the area is not just cleared of water but repaired.
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if small business is going to be able to operate, it will be because consumers and customers can get to them and get to the schools and the hospitals and their families. waiting to act until later this month when members were ready to vote last night is not, is not the right choice. no member of this house could travel to the northeast, see the damage, and tell anyone in those areas to wait, wait for us to act, we for us to help, we for us to come to your aid. we cannot and we should not wait. we must not walk away. mr. speaker, i urge the speaker of this house to reconsider and to act immediately. now, now, but now is the time to
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act. and i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it is important to set the record straight. we said the conduct of the republican leadership is disgraceful. it was a moral. it is important to lay out the facts. this goes far beyond any of that. within 10 days after katrina, $60 billion was appropriated. that number and the death going well over $100 billion. it has been nine weeks and nothing has been appropriated at all.
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the fact is over the last five, six, seven weeks, we did everything the republican leadership asked us to do. governor cuomo came down. governor christie came down. mayor bloomberg came down. we were asked to submit detailed documentation. they also amended out to the documentation. we asked if anything else was required, they said no. the bill kaye became from the senate, we were told there was cork. took that out of the bill. in my dealings with them, a leader cantor has been a skateboard and direct. the speaker walked off the floor
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and said the bill was being called. i consider myself a personal friend of john boehner. he has been very helpful to me over the years. it pains me to say this. the fact is the dismissive attitude shown last night toward new york, new jersey, and connecticut, typifies a strain in the republican party. i know this is not the place to discuss politics but the politics seeped over into a decision that was made. i cannot imagine that type of indifference, that type of this regard, that cavalier attitude being shown to any other part of the country. when people are talking about real life-and-death situations here, just how the speaker walked off without even telling us. the tell the majority leader that the item was taken off the calendar and is gone from the session. the fact is we are not in session next week.
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the following week, two days, then the inauguration for two days. then the state of the union. committees have not organized yet. does anyone believed it would not vote $60.4 billion last night? that it will certainly vote -- suddenly boiled the full amount. -- suddenly vote the full amount? these people have no problem finding the york when it comes to raising money. it is when it comes to allocating money they cannot find the ability to do it. we have a moral obligation as republicans, democrats, americans. i spoke to the governor's and the mayor. we cannot believe that the school life in the back was delivered to our region. i have to go home this weekend and see the thousands of people
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out of their homes we do not have shelter or food in the are living with relatives, friends, living in trailers. this is not the united states of america. this should not to the republican party, the republican leadership. i am asking the speaker, tell these people somehow they have become sanctimonious when it comes to dealing with the york and new jersey that they have an obligation to do what they have to do to provide aid and the relief we need to redo not walk out in the dark of night and ignore us. i yield back my time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. >> let me thank my colleague for his remarks. this is not a republican or democratic issue. it should not be politicized. natural disasters are what bring
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us together to try to help people. the speaker should i use this opportunity to tear us apart. i was here last night will make up the word through congress making the the speaker would pull this bill. the message said they could do this in january in the new congress. we cannot wait. my district was devastated. i would ask that speaker john later, come to see -- boehner, come to see the district. most of the people have not been able to return to the town. go to union beach, new jersey, also in my district. everything is exposed. we still have people that do not
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have a place to stay. that are looking for an apartment or stay in motels. where looking for a trailer to replace our their homes and they do not have it. we need to act now. we cannot wait for the next congress or another couple of weeks or another couple of months. what i do not understand is how it is possible this has become a political issue. it is clear we're here today, we can vote on this, the votes are clearly there. we should have an open debate, that is what democracy is all about and all the sudden because the tea party or some conservative element is worried that they have to vote on another spending bill, all the sudden the speaker says we cannot do this today. this is politicizing the situation that should not be political. it is another example of they do nothing congress. this congress did very little. it had fewer bills passed in anyone's memory. rather than go out on this note about not bringing up an emergency because of the hurricane, one of that devastating natural disasters, why not do some the positive on a bipartisan basis.
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let us have an open debate. we're still here and not let this congress die on this note. let it build on a positive note so when we come in and we're sworn in on thursday we can work on a bipartisan basis. i have never seen anything like it. it is deplorable. >> we're here this morning. we're here for the fellow citizens that did not put up a christmas tree or celebrate their holiday at home because they have no home. we're here for the boardwalk merchants who are not going to be starting their businesses up again this memorial day along the boardwalk because there is no business and there is the boardwalk. we're here because a lot of people -- people's lives are devastated. we are not asking that every member of this chamber follow
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our lead and vote yes in favor of the bill the senate has already passed. we're simply asking that every member of this chamber have the opportunity to vote on the bill. president kennedy said, governing is choosing. we're prepared to choose an investment in the recovery of our neighbors and country. we respect those who would make a different choice. we cannot abide by those who would say they would make the choice of doing nothing at all. letting the clock run out on this congress which means we have to start all over again. all over again. while the people i talked about for whom we are here this morning, they need to start all over again.
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they need to get back to their homes, back to their businesses, back to their lives. as we delay, which delayed that possibility for them. every member has the right to exercise his or her own conscience on any piece of legislation. no member has the right to defy the rest of us -- deprive the rest of us of the opportunity. we should meet today and vote today, we should move forward today. >> the gentleman's time is expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york for five minutes. without objection, so ordered. >> thank you. i rise today to join my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. i come from a district in new york that was not impacted by hurricane sandy. i come to the floor to express my frustration, disappointment, and the decision that was made to not bring up the hurricane sandy supplemental aid.
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our fellow citizens as americans who have suffered devastating impact. i understand what some of the dynamics of this bill is about. i understand that the senate has put forth a bill that many on my side of the aisle have expressed concern about. pork type of activity that the senate engages in with fisheries and smithsonian funding and things like that that do not have much to do with hurricane sandy. that is a separate issue that karpin address and should be. cleaning up the bill and getting the air, getting the resources to the people that are suffering today. that was the intended plan.
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that we were going to let the will of the house speak. clean up the bill that the senate had produced and most importantly, done what is right for our fellow citizens. because if there's not a better purpose of the federal government, that is for the federal government to stand with our citizens when they are suffering the most. especially, mr. speaker, when they are suffering from a natural disasters such as that. i ask and join with my colleagues for our leadership to change the decision that was made to let the clock run out on this congress and deal with this issue tomorrow. we do not have the luxury of waiting until tomorrow. these people are suffering today. i have talked to my colleagues
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of the districts that were impacted by this devastating storm and i have heard the horror stories. i have heard the stories of suffering of the many millions of people that were impacted in new jersey and new york outside of my district and i think is right and it is just, and it is proper for us to hear the stories of those individuals and make sure that we stand with them and take this billups now rather than a ticket to the next congress and god knows when we get to it in the congressional session. i join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, let us do what is right, mr. speaker. bring this bill to the floor and get on with the business of attending to our fellow citizens as americans. i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yield back. -- yields back.
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>> i want to wish you the best. i am glad there is one more democrat byron not glad you are leaving. -- but i'm not glad you are leaving. as we say in jersey, it is time to take the gloves off. that is the time. there is no precedent. there is precedent here. i would suggest that the governors, they should bring us the court. not only did we pass the money for katrina in a short period of time, part of it was by voice vote.
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can you imagine? part of it was by a voice vote. within a very short few days after that disaster. so, mr. kantor voted for katrina aid. my ryan and mr. mccarthy did. new jersey and the other states that were hit are some of the biggest donor states. we send a lot of taxes to the federal government. now we need our colleagues to step up to the plate. as everyone knows, sandy caused significant damage. in bergen county, north jersey, my district, first responders have to evacuate entire towns when the hackensack river rose over a birm.
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the place de former will be housed in trailers and reimbursed. let them come to north jersey. let them come to connecticut, the shore of jersey. but then come to pennsylvania and maryland. let them come, let them see. there was one of the people whose house was decimated by the water. we're dealing with a schizophrenic leadership on the other side. let's call it for what it is. let's not mince words. state and local finances are already stretched thin. limited or no ability to rebuild alone because the storm resulted in repressed, depressed tax collections. we have been working with members of the house ways and means committee to draft legislation models on tax relief.
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as i said, good luck to you and god bless your family and god bless all of you for coming here this morning. we thought we would have a shortened week but our work is still ahead of us. this is time to stop debating and take the gloves off, jersey style. thank you. >> the constitution was called "a contract of citizenship that promises protection, the government will help to protect their families and physicians from forces beyond their control -- families from forces beyond their control." when disasters strike, they test whether the contract is respected in the citizens' hour of need. when the levees broke, the
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contract of american citizenship failed. mr. speaker, the levees broke. they broke in connecticut, in new york, and in new jersey. government is about helping families recover and rebuild from major disasters like sandy. in a shocking display of neglect, the house majority decided not to allow a vote on disaster aid funds so desperately needed to recover and repair from the storm. hurricane sandy was one of the most severe storms to hit across our history. families houses were destroyed and lives were appended. whether it has been a fire in the west, a tornado in the midwest, the hurricane in the
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gulf coast, or storm in the north, this body acted. we did not say no. it was it was a resounding -- it was a resounding yes. to act on behalf of the american people. and yet here we are two months since sandy destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, took 100 lives across this nation, the house majority said no on a vote for disaster assistance to help millions of people get back on their feet again. the republican leadership has broken that contract of citizenship. they have said to my constituents in stratford, milford, east haven, north branford, they said no to the rest of the towns in connecticut and new york and new jersey.
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they broke the contract and they said, your on your own. -- you are on your own. we have a central responsibility to act on behalf of the american people when they're overwhelmed in circumstances they had no control over. let us act. let us act today to restore that faith in -- and confidence. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey for two and a half minutes. >> you have heard it. our constituents' lives were devastated. it has been nine weeks since hurricane sandy. in new york and connecticut and new jersey, people are hurting.
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towns have exhausted their emergency funds. an exhausted their borrowing capacity. in other disasters such as the disaster seceded with katrina or with wild fires, or with any number of natural disasters, this body has acted and aid has been provided quickly. yet today, the speaker is going to allow the 112 congress to adjourn before passing the much- needed disaster relief package. the senate acted on this bill. the aid package here was well- constructed. it was ready. all we need was a boat. and the delay is significant. -- all we needed was a vote. it is not an exaggeration to say lives are on the line.
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people are living radicand. -- wherever they can. they do not have the shelter. they do not have the businesses. they do not have their lives. and the speaker just walks away. the compounds the disaster. the delay compounds the disaster. it has been said fema has the money already in their account that will last for many weeks but we're not just talking about fema. we're talking about huyd. -- hud. billions of dollars of housing aid. the department of the interior. the agriculture department, for food and emergency watershed protection. the epa for safe drinking water. all this is in this well
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constructed package. it has been said the governing principle is your on your own. that might actually be a conscientious principal if they believe in their hearts that your social security should be privately invested or you should pay for college without government help. but to say you're on your own after a disaster is inconsiderate. bricks are trust. it violates an understanding. -- it breaks our trust. it hurts people. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> this kind of petty partisan posturing is absolutely disgraceful.
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it is an act of spiteful indifference that will go down in history as a low point in a low era. shipman's house. this house acted quickly after katrina, voting over $60 billion and it acted quickly for ike and gustav. we were there for other regions of this country. this country has to be there for the northeast. 24 states were affected. it has been called the second worst natural disaster in the history of our country, affecting over 17 million people in the most densely populated area of america. we cannot turn our backs on this entire region. every governor, every mayor has talked to the republican leadership.
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there were assured money would be there. we cannot rebuild or start to repair without the resources being in place. the northeast are donor states. we give far more to the federal government in taxes than what comes back to us yet when the natural disaster struck our people, we lost lives. we lost businesses, homes, complete devastation of the largest subway system in our country. where is the aid and where is the support? mr. speaker, introduce the senate bill tomorrow. let's come back into session, a vote on friday, with with the aid in place. the american way of being there to help people. you cannot pick and choose that certain areas get disaster relief but the area that is the most hard hit in the history of our country does not receive the disaster.
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the disaster aid that has been there for other people. we have been there for you. you need to be there for the northeast. it is devastated. we need federal aid. you can repair hospitals, subway systems, a major infrastructure without the support of the federal government. mr. speaker, do not turn your back on america and a region of americans. you need to support in a bipartisan way the aid that is so desperately needed for the most densely populated area in our country after the worst -- second worst storm. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey for five minutes. >> the bill we had hoped to bring to the floor to get as the $60 billion that is desperately needed to assist municipalities devastated -- there's still time to bring this legislation to the floor for a vote.
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they are still coping with and recovering from the most destructive storm ever in our region. perhaps the second or third most costly in all of american history. families of black housing, -- families lack housing, businesses are in shambles. new disabilities have been decimated. 346,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed. 22,000 units rendered uninhabitable. an estimated 11,000 housing choice vouchers will be needed to ensure residents have a roof over their heads this winter. 100,000 new store related unemployment claims have been filed in new jersey.
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over 235,000 people in new jersey have registered with fema for individual assistance. 75% of small businesses were adversely affected. 10% of which were 19,000 businesses. the same damage of 200 $2,000 or more. for in excess of the loss to businesses after katrina. it is estimated to be $8.30 billion. 10,000 structures statewide will need to be demolished in 1000 sites across new jersey. recurring remediation. 51 schools sustain serious damage including six that will not reopen this school year. roads and bridges have been
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damaged. this includes 294 damage real cars and 75 damaged locomotives. one of the main roads will require $120 million repair. power and gas lines are expected to cost roughly $1 billion. the power outages left 2.4 million people in the dark. waste and water and sewer will be required. $3 billion to repair and protect. facilities have seen $150 million worth of storm damage. these facts and more _ the devastation on leased by sandy and it is without precedent. no recovery has ever been accomplished in a single year but it is about predictability and the certainty of funds to rebuild and to restore. that insures the work proceed immediately, comprehensive way, efficacious like, and without interruption.
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for days and weeks like many of my colleagues, after the horrible storm hit, i met with hundreds, even thousands of tenacious woman and man who, despite crippling losses, were happy to be alive and determined to rebuild. i will never forget one resident of delmarva came up to me the day after sandy and said i have lost everything but i am alive. we need to ensure that the money is there and say flow quickly to ensure they can rebuild their homes and businesses and the mid disabilities that have done yeoman's work in helping them, gathering and uniting behind them. we are past two months and we need to be clear. the president did not send this up until december 7. we do have a bill, it is 25% less than one the state said they needed.
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they said $80 billion, it is down $60 billion so it is less. i have seen and on to the numbers that our state has sent to this body and to the president. they are well vetted. they hate waste, fraud, and abuse and they're trying to ensure the money is there to make a difference. let me say we need to act. as my colleague before me said we're contributing states. we give back less than we pay in every year. that is a bad thing. we have good businesses that provide employment for our people but we have been devastated and i would hope the speaker will bring this to the floor as quickly as possible, hopefully today or tomorrow but
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as quickly as possible. the people who are victims deserve no less. >> the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california for two and a half minutes. >> thank you. here we are again today in wonder over the decision that we think has been made by the republican leadership in the house not to bring legislation to the floor that addresses the needs of those affected by sandy. everyone who heard about this since last night, other delegations came to the floor to speak about this and said did not tell me that. -- do not tell me that. -- do not tell me that.

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